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Side by Side: Living and Working in Downtown Bellevue

Jared Herndon sometimes forgets where he last parked his car in the parking garage at The Seasons apartments in downtown Bellevue. Not surprising given he drives so rarely that he did not fill up his car with gas during the entire month of August.

Some might wonder how it’s possible to drive so infrequently, but Herndon appreciates the lifestyle he adopted ten months ago when he relocated from Atlanta to his new home in downtown.

“I hated the commute there, and I just refused to do it again,” Herndon says in his lilting southern accent.

So when Herndon accepted a position as a tax accountant at Clark Nuber in downtown Bellevue’s Skyline Tower, it was an easy decision to make his home in downtown as well.

Though the significant cost saving is an obvious benefit of being able to walk to work—Herndon saves $165 per month in parking costs—it takes second place to quality of life.

“When you’ve worked a full day, the last thing you want to do is look at the back of the car in front of you for an hour,” he says. “Now I’m home and in the gym in just a few short minutes.”

An added bonus to the quick commute time is downtown’s pedestrian-friendly streets, which Herndon uses for just about everything, including walking to the mall, the grocery store, the dry cleaners, and of course, his favorite after-work treat—Jamba Juice.

Living near Old Bellevue, he also enjoys the quaint atmosphere and live music on the weekend at Gilbert’s and says the friendliness he encounters easily outweighs the famed Southern charm he always hears about—“People here are just so nice!”